Chronological disorder
by krola
Summary: Lily Aldrin hates Time Travel. There isn't anything to it more than vertigo, coldness, nakedness and the confusing task of keeping secrets. Robin/Barney. Ted/Mother. Lily/Marshall
1. Typical Lily

**Hello! A fanfic in english, yay! I am spanish so this was quite a challenge for me, It didn't went badly! Don't worry, it is in perfect grammar thanks to Woobloo, who beta-ed it!**

**It is based in the premise of TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, but it is set in the HIMYM universe so it isn't really a crossover. I think there aren't enough sci-fi HIMYM fanfics around so I tried with a little bit of Time travel. The main character is Lily but the romantic factor would be centered in Robin and Barney, Ted and the mother would have their moments too. Lily is a time traveler observant. I hope the sci-fi elements fit with the gang dynamic, because that was my intention.**

** Read and enjoy!:**

**CHRONOLOGICAL DISORDER**

_Lily Aldrin hates Time Travel. _There isn't anything to it more than vertigo, coldness, nakedness and the confusing task of keeping secrets. She hates when she vanishes in a blink to appear in some important event of her life, completely naked and disoriented. It's a horrible and inexplicable disease that she usually calls _Chronological Disorder_. It could absolutely kill her… only not really, unless she counts the times when she caught a cold after finding herself without clothes in winter under the rain or snow. But the thing she hates most about time travel is the inquisitive questions their friends ask her about what the future brings- especially Ted. It is an endless series of inquiries about the elusive future Mrs. Mosby and if she actually is the current girlfriend or some girl he just met recently.

The thing that Time Travel hates about Lily Aldrin is that she is incapable of keeping secrets. Fate is always having to change itself, move forward and morph to fix the harm that Lily Aldrin has provoked in her involuntary travels because she didn't close her damn mouth. At least Lily tries to keep the secrets.

McLarens was full that Friday: friends, woo girls, drunk guys (only a few in suits) and some desperate women looking for a bit of distraction (Barney's words). They were seated at their usual booth, waiting for the girl that Ted met through Internet. It took Barney ten seconds to share his theory about the crazy/hot scale. It took Ted fifteen seconds to ask Lily if this girl was the one.

"_Ted_"- the fourth beer always gave her enough resolution to fight Ted in his depressive episodes- "I won't tell you anything about your future love life. I don't talk about life changing events or about break ups and new girlfriends of the future. You'll have to find the girl of your dreams on your own… and I've told you millions of times that what I see in the future is not strictly the truth. It can change."

"But it normally doesn't," Ted said, looking at Lily with pleading eyes.

Lily rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her beer. She really hated talking about time travel.

"You knew you were going to marry Marshall even before meeting him. Why can't I have that?"

"Have I told you about my first time travel, guys?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, like a hundrillion times," Barney said.

"I'm sure that word doesn't actually exist," Marshall replied. Barney looked at him condescendingly.

Lily hold her hand in the air to end the argument. She cleared her throat before talking: "I was eight years old. In a matter of seconds, I vanished from a lovely summer evening to appear naked in a cold winter day. I was in the living room, in front of my parents who were too busy to notice my sudden presence. And do you know why?"

Barney got closer to Robin to whisper in her ear "I prefer when she tells about that time she did Gothic Lily in college while Marshall was watching."

"She's never told anything like that," Robin answered in a low voice, smiling. "I'm sure it never happened."

"Okay, maybe Marshall wasn't watching. The rest, true story," he whispered back.

"I was there, three years in the future, in front of my parents. They were arguing, shouting at each other. Ending their marriage in front of their own daughter that magically just came from the past. When I returned to my present I told my parents, hoping that the information would help them to prevent that from happening. They got a divorce two years before it was supposed to happen, because why fight for a relationship that was so obviously doomed? That was what I got from telling what I saw in the future and that's the reason I am not going to tell you your future, Ted."

Ted pushed his back against the chair, feeling exhausted. Lily looked at him with sorrow and held his hands with tenderness.

"Ted, believe me. You are going to be ok. I can tell you that much."

Then the normal conversation about time travel, Ted's idiosyncrasies, Barney's new play, Robin's job and Marshall's theories on Nessie were shadowed by the arrival of the crazy chick and her handmade bags, the 16s nos of Robin and the memories about how they met. The only truth about how Lily met them was the story of her meeting Ted (the most controversial one, though). The rest was a version told to people who thought that time travel was only a science fiction genre.

* * *

_New York, New York, New York._

She couldn't stop humming the song in her head. Yeah, Frank Sinatra was an absolutely liar. Because, really, New York isn't that lovely and unforgettable. It had been only two months since she first saw the high buildings of the city, the yellow cabs and the food trucks and now she couldn't stop thinking about home. Canada. Frank Sinatra should have sung about Canada.

Well, if she was fair, maybe New York wasn't _entirely_ responsible for her disappointment. It was she who couldn't get a job as a serious journalist, it was she who was far away from her family, it was she who didn't have friends in the city. Well, that wasn't totally right. She had friends, kinda. Some co-workers who were always complaining about men and were dependent on them at the same time. Co-workers (friends, whatever) that looked at her like she was some dangerous terrorist when she talked about her guns; friends who looked scandalized the moment Robin said she was not interested in marriage, 2.2 kids, a house in the suburbs and a dog. Well, a dog was the only thing she was interested in from that list.

And there she was, alone in a cold night in New York (or so they say- it wasn't that cold in her opinion), coming back from reporting one of the most ridiculous stories she had had the pleasure of reporting: A man found a finger in a coke can. She was sure it had happened before… so why was it news exactly?

"Robin!"

Robin stopped walking and turned around, looking for the feminine voice that was calling her. She looked at the dark alley of her left. And there she was, the girl who the gang would call affectionately "Lily of the future," as naked as God brought her into the world.

Robin gripped her bag strongly, turning her expression in a defiant stare.

"How do you know….?"

Before Robin finished her question, the naked redhead sighed exaggeratedly.

"Oh, you _don't _know me." She closed her eyes and breathed strongly in despair.

The redhead embraced herself to protect herself from the cold. It was the first clue that indicated that she knew she was naked. _"Perfect,"_ Robin thought with sarcasm _"She's not crazy, just exhibitionist"_. Robin took advantage of the moment to resume her walking, looking away.

"No, wait, stop!" exclaimed the redhead, lifting her right arm.

Robin stopped on her trucks, her irritated face in place, and turned back with violence, making sure her movements were aggressive.

"Hear me out… I don't know you and I don't know how do you know my name so let's pretend this was a coincidence." Robin pointed at her, "and most importantly, I don't want to know why you're naked."

"Robin…"

"I have a gun and I know how to use it."

Suddenly, the girl laughed. It wasn't the reaction Robin was fishing for.

"Really, Robin? That's a lame line… isn't it from a movie? I can't recall which one," the redhead said. Robin lifted her brows, confused. The naked girl walked in her direction and Robin stepped back in instinct, she hoped that she didn't plan on jumping her. The girl came to her and held her hands like they were old friends, looked her in the eyes, making sure that Robin was paying attention. "If you are introduced to a guy named Ted in a bar, invite him over, invite him to your house."

Robin blinked, confused, and put distance between the naked girl and her. She nodded. "You're gonna get a cold," she said before rushing down the street, pressing her bag against her body. She didn't look back, hoping that the crazy girl wasn't following her.

Yeah, she had seen some weird things in New York but this…

She kept replaying_ New York, New York_ in her head until she arrived to her apartment. "Damn crazy city," she muttered to herself.

Months later she met Ted and invited him over (not because a crazy chick asked her to but because he was cute and friendly enough), and he said "I love you" and for a moment she was horrified but then she thought that _maybe_ this was a long term joke (and that idea was less horrifying that hearing I love you in the first date). The first time she sat in their booth in McLarens, Robin met the naked girl: her hair was shorter, redder and she was clothed with a pretty dress. She didn't seem to remember her (luckily, she didn't seem crazy) but that was ok because Robin didn't need answers, she just needed friends, beer and a bar.

Suddenly, Frank Sinatra's songs sounded a lot better.

* * *

_"What's wrong about saying literally? It's a valid word and very useful. What if I like the damn word?"_ Robin thought looking with fury to the group who were still nodding after Ted pointed out her little flaw. Robin opened her mouth outraged.

"And you," she said, pointing to Marshall, "You sing about everything you do. The most stupid things like taking your clothes to the laundry or even studying. How can you study if you are singing?"

"That's not a flaw, that's actually adorable!" Marshall shouted. Lily nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder as a sign of support.

"Wait. So that means that I'm the only one here without a flaw," Barney said, smiling like a little boy. The rest of the gang adopted a thoughtful expression for a moment, trying to decide which was his most irritating trait. Barney smiled proudly, misunderstanding their silence. "Aha! High five for my flawless awesomeness!"

The four looked at him with frowns and, at the same time, they started enumerating the long list of weird fixations that Barney had, interrupting each other: _catch phrases- spacing out- high fives!_

_"_What?" he exclaimed, surprised. "I, space out? _Me_? Really?" He pointed directly to Lily. "She's the one who suddenly disappears into thin air, at a party, during an important conversation..." He stopped talking, pausing for effect, "... while at laser tag!

"I don't….!"

And then, the spot where Lily had been standing was empty. The only trace of her presence was her jeans, her boots and her blouse on the floor. Naked Lily was somewhere (_somewhen_), the past or the future, for who knows how much time. The gang sighed, Marshall the loudest, but none of them seemed surprised. They were used to Lily's chronological disorder as much as they were used to the sudden appearance of "Lily from the past" or "Lily from the future"

"See?" Barney opened his arms, looking at Lily's clothes with a triumphant smile. "Typical Lily."

* * *

Robin caressed Barney's neck with her nose, smelling Barney's scent. She liked the smell he leaves in her bed, in the sheets, though that was something she wouldn't tell anyone. Not even him. She wanted to ask a lot of things but she was too afraid of the answers so she just gave herself into his scent, smiled against his skin and closed her eyes at the rhythm of his snoring. (If you ask him, he doesn't snore)

It's been a year since they started the arranged not-committed relationship. It had undergone some changes: now they allowed the public displays of affection, they could hold hands and call themselves boyfriend and girlfriend but only if there was some undesired person around (someone not pretty enough to hit on them, for example). They were together most of the time; they slept together most nights because making your friend go back to their apartment in the middle of the night in dangerous New York was forbidden in the Bro Code (it wasn't written in the book, but it has the same validity if the rule has been proclaimed in front of the gang, in McLarens, before 2 A.M). For that reason, they were usually faithful, they didn't have free nights for other purposes. The main ingredient of their relationship was denial (i.e. "we are not dating") and Robin couldn't stop wondering if their situation was going to implode, like Marshall and Ted had told her on more than one occasion.

She forgot her hesitation when Barney stirred in his sleep. Robin smiled, an idea making its way to her mind. She lifted her upper body to get closer to Barney and kissed him in the neck. He didn't wake up at first but Robin persisted until his mouth formed a smile and his eyes started to open.

"Robin…" he called her, his voice barely awake.

Robin lifted up her chin and looked at him to pay attention to his words.

_"… do that!" _a female voice said.

Robin and Barney turned their heads, finding a time traveling Lily naked in front of them. She looked around, like a little animal trying to recognize the habitat and then, her eyes were on them. Her expression was one of overt surprise. She was paralyzed, trying to form words, but no sound left her throat. Robin and Barney didn't need more to know that she was "Lily from the past" just discovering the sexual future that the two friends shared (or will share, depending on your perspective). The truth is that their Lily hadn't seemed that surprised when the gang discovered their affair.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, finally. "You're… you're going to…"

"Yeah," Robin said, covering herself with the sheets.

"Is _this_ something serious?" "Lily from the past" asked, still in shock.

Robin smiled and shrugged. _That was the million dollar question._

"Come on Lily, sex is always serious…" Barney said, frowning. "Sex is the beginning of life, sex is the reason for life, sex is…"

"I get it!" Lily said. She couldn't tear her eyes off of them, though. "But you were cuddling."

Robin opened her mouth to deny it. Damn past Lily, who was oblivious to the forbidden topics of conversation of the gang in the present. Before Robin could say something, Barney interrupted her:

"So, now, we three are naked... how about a threesome?"

Lily rolled her eyes. Barney was always Barney.

"He's kidding," Robin added with a nervous smile. She patted him on his naked chest "He is literally kidding."

Yeah, Robin Scherbatsky still used literally too much, even in the future.

"Wait, what year is this?"

It was 2011. She was four years in the future (three, considering that in her present 2008 was next month), four years in the future Robin and Barney were having sex or a relationship or whatever. It made sense, maybe, but with Robin's history with Ted, she had never thought about that possibility before. Robin and Barney entered in McLarens with "Lily from the past" in tow. The moment she came in the bar, she stopped being Lily and started being Anna, Lily's twin sister. The rest of the gang was already seated in the booth, including Lily. She smiled the moment she saw herself because she was still young and her hair looked amazing and… Oh, my God, where did she buy that top? She had to ask her.

The name Anna was chosen by Lily. It was the name of the chick in _Predator_. They had even made up some backstory: Anna lives in Washington, close enough for her to come to visit whenever she wants, she works at an art gallery. No family, no boyfriend, only friends… she's a free spirit. Anna seated in the booth, beside Lily. From her sit in the booth, she could notice how Carl frowned at the sight of her.

"What's up with Carl?" she asked after greeting everyone.

Lily shrugged. "Two weeks ago College Lily came. You know, a lot younger, gothic style, black straight hair. I am sure he's wondering about your sudden change of style."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, we traveled a lot in that time. Actually, I think I came for Christmas in 2008, so I should make more food."

Lily nodded. She had already lived that (as the college girl who appeared suddenly at Christmas dinner while in her present it was still spring and as the wife that prepared the Christmas dinner for her friends and added a sixth dish for the visit from the past).

She wasn't paying attention to the main conversation of the gang. Something about Marshall not wanting to fire Randy (whoever that was), but she was happy to see that her Marshall was still the same. It was difficult sometimes to remember that this Marshall was not hers (not yet) but belonged to the "Lily from the future" (the present she was visiting right now) that was seated beside her.

Anna looked at Robin and Barney with an unhidden curiosity. They were not extremely touchy but sometimes she saw Robin caressing Barney's wrist with her hand, lingering in his touch. It was subtle but weird, intimate in their own way. She felt like she was in an alternative reality instead of the future.

"I'm gonna go get more beer," Lily said, standing up. She looked at Anna. "Do you want to come?"

Anna nodded, following her to the bar.

"You don't get used to them, do you?" Lily asked, pointing to Robin and Barney with her head.

"Did you know about them?" Anna asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we all know. It had been happening for some time already. They dated but it didn't work so they decided to be friends with benefits."

"They aren't exclusive, then."

"They weren't at the beginning, but then some jealousy issues came up... The thing is that if you ask them they will tell you they aren't exclusive but they haven't slept with anyone else in months. I think their weird relationship is like an addiction for them. Ted and Marshall think it's not healthy. I don't know what to think."

"Because you have seen too much, from the future."

"Exactly."

"So it will work out in the end?"

"You'll see. You'll know the first. Perks of being a time traveler."

When they went back to the booth with the beers in hand, there was a young blond girl with big boobs and a plastic smile greeting Robin. The Canadian was obviously uncomfortable with her presence. The two Lilys slid into the booth, looking with an identical expression of mistrust at the perky girl.

"Girls, this is Becky, my co-worker," Robin introduced them. "Becky, this is my friend Lily and her twin sister, Anna."

"It's a pleasure." Becky said, but her eyes were on Barney. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Robin. How did two you met?"

Anna drank from her beer but kept her stare on Robin. She was anticipating the 16's nos from her. The fear and the confusion were already in Robin's expression who opened her mouth to close it immediately, like a fish outside water.

"Well, this is an interesting story. It was a cold night, New York was under a layer of snow…" Barney started, lifting his chin to give his story some gravitas. Robin put her hand on his arm.

"Barney, let me tell the story myself."

Barney smiled, looking at her with a mix of confusion and pride.

"II was in this same bar when a guy stared at me from the other side of the room…" Robin was interrupted by a very high-pitched "aww" from Becky. She shook her head. "No, it wasn't him. It was Ted," she said pointing to Ted who waved. "Ted said to Barney: 'she is the girl I am going to marry,' and Barney answered: 'I'm sure she likes it dirty.' That was how we met. We met through Ted, we became friends, drank scotch, played laser tag and then we… Well, we're dating"

"Oh," Becky said, confused "That's… romantic, I guess."

When Becky came back to the guy who was inviting her to drinks, Barney put an arm behind Robin.

"Scherbatsky, you are awesome." Barney said, smiling. "Because there's nothing better than the truth to hide a lie," He changed his calm attitude, letting out a nervous chuckle "Us dating? An awesome lie!"

Robin gave him a forced smile. Lily and Anna looked at Robin with pity (leave it to Barney to say the wrong thing at the wrong moment). Ted cleared his throat to break the silence. Marshall asked if someone wanted something to eat. He was hungry.

* * *

They were at Ted's. Arguing, as always. Ted and Barney were out picking up the food and the drinks.

"How can you say that Bigfoot is not real?" Marshall asked Robin, scandalized by his friend's skepticism. "There are clues, real traces, people who disappear…"

"I'm sure it was a guy without a social life dressed as a bear."

"A Bigfoot is bigger than the average human height. Damn, Robin, Bigfoot is bigger than a bear!" Marshall said, lifting both arms in frustration. Robin smiled, having fun at his exaggerated reaction. Marshall looked at Lily "Lilypad, tell her Bigfoot is real!"

Lily smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry, honey, I'm with Robin on this one."

Marshall frowned. "But you're a Time Traveler!"

Every argument about what was real or supernatural ended in that same note. Because if Time Travel was real, then the vampires, monsters, ghosts and even mermaids were real too.

* * *

Ted went to the supermarket just to buy milk. Because apparently milk was something Robin couldn't live without. He would never understand her obsession with milk. He was fuming over that unnecessary trip to the supermarket, walking along the baking aisle, when he saw _her. _The one who got away.

"Victoria." His voice sounded like a whisper.

Victoria frowned at hearing her name and looked at where Ted was standing. Her smile was sincere but hesitant as if she was scared of how that smile could change the direction her life had taken.

"Oh, Ted, It has been such a long time…"

Ted, on the other hand, smiled as one who dreamed of second chances and destiny.

Lily didn't usually get surprised in her present because her travels to the future gave her a general picture of how their lives were going to be. For that reason, she almost spat out her drink when Ted told about his re-encounter with Victoria.

"Don't do it, Ted," Barney said. "You can do better."

"What? Why? Victoria was awesome. Sometimes I ask myself what would have happened if I… if we wouldn't have broken up because of the distance."

"Let me correct myself: You can eat greener pastures."

"Is Ted a cow in this allegory?" Marshall asked.

The whole gang, minus Ted, laughed. "He totally is," Barney said, between laughs.

"I think that what Barney wants to say is that sometimes new is always better." Lily said.

"A new-perkier-younger-more open to untried sexual positions-blond-girl."

"Really?" Robin snorted, obviously offended. "Blond? What's wrong with brunettes?"

"Or redheads?" Lily added, looking at Barney with her death stare.

"_Nah_," Barney dismissed the thought with his hand. "Brunettes and redheads are usually high maintenance, though there are some blonds with brunette's attitudes and some really slutty redheads." Barney smiled at the girls but, seeing their reaction, he tried to mend it. "But the main reason is that brunettes and redheads are too clever for guys like me or Ted."

"Hey, why not Marshall too?" Ted asked, offended.

"It's obvious, Ted," Barney said, rolling his eyes. "He got a redhead for an unlimited number of times in his bed. Like a contract of regular sex for life… and I'm sure she likes to do weird stuff with her breasts." Any other woman would have felt offended by this. Not Lily, who smiled with pride. "He's got to be clever enough. Though he would have been more intelligent if he hadn't said the vows of fidelity."

"You know marriage isn't a contract where you can cross out regular sex but leave off fidelity, holding hands and rom-com movies. Right?"

"_Duh_, Scherbatsky. Why do you think marriage is for losers?"

"Guys, can we talk about… you know, Victoria?"

"Yes, but, wait Ted! Don't tell anything more… I am going to refill my drink!" Marshall said hurrying to the bar. He signaled Carl to bring him another beer.

"Hello, Marshall." Lily's voice said. When Marshall turned around he found a 50 years old Lily smiling sweetly at him. "Damn, I miss that body. What do you think of me? Are you happy about how your wife is going be in twenty years?"

Marshall smiled. "Hot enough. Though this conversation weirds me out a little. I feel like I'm talking to Lily's aunt or something like that."

"Aunt Marie? Yeah, I look a lot like her. She usually dress in sports clothes, though."

"How did you get those clothes? They're Lily's, right?"

"She always leaves the key under the doormat for us."

"Oh, right. I forgot." In that moment, Wendy passed him the beer. Marshall looked at the booth where their friends hadn't notice the new visitant. "Are you gonna sit with us?"

"Yes, in a minute. I am going to ask for something to drink."

Marshall nodded with his head and went back to the booth, crossing paths with Robin who wanted to get some peanuts. Robin waited at the other side of the bar, far from "Lily from the future" who she hadn't seen yet. She went to that exact spot for a reason: namely, a hot guy with a leather jacket.

"So how many minutes do I have to stand here for you to ask my number?." She said, trying to seduce him. It was a long time since she had dated anyone, she had had some one-night stands but nothing serious. The last thing she remembered as something exciting was that HUGE mistake that she committed with Barney after watching "Sandcastles in the sand". The gang didn't know, and they had agreed to keep the secret between them. She was okay with that. It was just meaningless sex with the god of meaningless sex. Nothing major, nothing worth thinking about, nothing worth remembering… So why are you thinking about THAT night when hot-leather-jacket-guy is smiling at you, responding positively to your advances, Robin? Why?

"With those eyes, I won't need any more seconds." The hot guy answered. Lamest pick up line or lamest answer to a pick up line, whatever, he was hot enough… He didn't need to be eloquent, charming and funny. His muscles did that for him. Robin, smile, don't think about the Sandcastles disaster and most importantly don't put ridiculous names to events in your life that didn't affect you at all.

The guy was taking off his mobile phone from his pocket to write her number when a known voice roared at her back, it was Lily. Robin turned around, looking at her friend with incredulity, something like: _"What are you doing? Don't you see how handsome is this guy here?" _but she didn't find her Lily. It was Lily some years older.

"How can you do this to Barney? This isn't like you, Robin. It's like I don't know you… wait, are you still in the beginning of your not-committed relationship? Because I thought I had landed some years after that…"

Robin opened her mouth to form an almost comical surprised expression. She noted how the hot guy slid to the other end of the bar, running from any involvement in the argument.

"What? _To Barney_? We're nothing. We had sex one time, and one time only." Some feelings got mixed up inside her- fear, disconcert, confusion, some repressed happiness, illusion and- relief, because finally she had told her secret to Lily (maybe not the Lily she was expecting to tell, but Lily nevertheless).

"Lily from the future" went suddenly pale. "Oh, what year is it? It's 2013, right?"

"No, it's 2009."

"Damn!" Lily muttered under her breath.

"Are we going to be together, Barney and me? Are we going to date in the future?" Robin didn't know why she felt some kind of excitement for this possibility.

"Oh, honey," Lily said. "It wasn't my intention to tell you anything. All this Time Travel is quite confusing."

"_Are we?"_ she insisted.

Lily smiled and decided to give her something. "You and Barney are going to do a lot of things in the future, Robin." Robin blushed. "I don't know what you are feeling right now because it is kind of difficult to know which was the year you fell in love with him..."

"Fall in love?" Robin said in absolute horror.

_Oh, _it had been for "Lily from the future" a long time since Robin Scherbatsky feared the mention of love. She remembered it was such a big thing for them, to commit and to say "I love you" and to grow up in general. The scared expression of Robin seemed like an antique relic. It was curious how Ted Mosby and all his wishes about a life of commitment, true love and kids couldn't end Robin's fear of love and marriage, but Barney with his same fears managed to put a ring in Robin's finger. That reality, about their wedding and their happy marriage, was something that would put this young (almost infant) Robin in hysterics. Lily as a time traveler was lucky enough to see it more than once, with different perspectives, although with the non-linear narrative that Ted's tales usually have.

"Oh, dear. I have talked too much, haven't I? Let's go with the others. I sure miss these times with Barney's plays and Ted's romantic problems. Who was his last girlfriend? That usually helps me to understand in what period of time I am. Believe me, our history could be divided by the beginning and the end of Ted's serious relationships."

Robin didn't know what to answer, still astonished by the new information regarding Barney. Her and Barney? That was crazy… doomed to fail, but if someone from the future told her it was going to happen, someday, well, you can't fight fate, right? It was going to happen. Robin Scherbatsky didn't believe in miracles but the existence of Time Travel was screwing up her principles.

When Lily from the future told Present Lily her conversation with Robin and her-not-so-unwilling-slip-ups Lily wrote it down in a notebook so she would remember it. Most of the time she felt that to have the happy ending she had witnessed in the future, she needed to act exactly how the different "Lilys from the future" acted before her.

And about Ted? Well, he called Victoria to set up a date, "just" to catch up with an old friend. Of course, nobody believed him.

* * *

THOUGHTS? Reviews are always appreciated. Long reviews even more!... please, please, please? :)


	2. Ted's muffin symbolism

**Second chapter!**

**This time I want to thank Laura, for being my beta and all the readers who left me reviews. I hope you like this chapter too! **

**2**

**TED'S MUFFIN SYMBOLISM**

"Where is Lily?" Ted asked. He knew Robin was coming late but had Lily promised to be on time. They were at Ted's, setting the table for dinner and watch a B movie.

Marshall sighed with a sad expression that his friends recognized instantly.

"She is not here, she is _away", _ Marshall said.

Barney was setting the table with some take-away Chinese food when he looked at Marshall, raising one arm like he was in school.

"I have a question. If Lily is in, lets say, 1954. Can she sleep with James Dean or any other guy that she finds attractive?"

"Of course not! She's my wife!"

"She isn't your wife in 1954 and considering that he is now dead, it would be a moral obligation for her. A way to honor all the horny girls of today!"

"Lily can only travel during her life line so 1954 and James Dean are out of the question."

_**(Kids, that is the reason why your Uncle Marshall hates James Dean. Apparently he had nightmares about the actor seducing Lily and… well, more than seducing.)**_

"That's not the point. Can she, for example, sleep with a teenage Marshall?"

"Dude, that is a crime," Ted said, grossed out.

"Still not the point! I mean, have you stated some rules about her time _away? _For all we know she is banging everything with a dick."

Marshall closed his eyes, disgusted with the idea. "She is not banging anyone."

"Not even a younger you?"

"Well, ask her!" Marshall screamed exasperated.

Barney shrug nonchalantly, "Ok. I will."

_"Welcome to your naked existence. Again,"_ Lily said to herself in a bitter tone. She was naked, again, in winter, again, in who knew what year. She imagined it was her college years because that was exactly where she was, standing naked on the grass, behind a tree on the Wesleyan College campus. She looked around to see how many people were around. It really wasn't her lucky day, as it wasn't a particularly cold day, most students were enjoying their spare time outside. Lily sighed, lifting her chin and started walking toward the college building. The laughs resonated without delay.

"It's an initiation for a college fraternity, ok?" She shouted to the people who were laughing out loud closer to her.

When Lily was ten years old and the children of her age were still playing with toys, she had learned how to pick a lock and some pickpocketing. She remembered with accuracy her first lessons.

It was a weekend in July when an 18-year-old Lily had brought her younger self to Central Park and after making a demonstration of how to steal someone's wallet with discretion, she pointed to a teenager who was playing with a Gameboy.

"Go get him!" Lily from the future had told her younger self.

"But what if he sees me?"

"That won't happen. Believe me, I know."

The younger Lily took a long breath and walked directly to the absent-minded teen. The Gameboy was taking all the attention from the boy, who didn't notice how his wallet slipped out of his pocket. Lily would never forget the adrenaline of the fear and the happiness of the victory. First times are always unforgettable.

Picking a lock was even easier than pickpocketing, mainly because the locks were unanimated. Lily went straight to the laundry room on campus, she knew that the lock wasn't very effective as it wasn't the first time that Lily had stolen clean clothes from there. The clothes always re-appeared in different parts of the campus, so the teachers and students thought that it was some unfunny prank. Of course, Lily never confessed that her future self was the real culprit… (Nobody would have believed her anyway.) Only Marshall and Ted knew, but she had only told them when college was already left in the past.

Lily put on a yellow dress and went upstairs, toward the students lounge. She was distracted by tying the laces of her dress when she bumped into Marshall. He excused himself and Lily just looked at him with a dumb expression. It was the first time that Marshall had ever seen Lily Aldrin. Although she was already married to him, he was visiting the college that he intended to apply for. It was the first time, for one of them at least and Lily loved first times. He smiled, she smiled, he said sorry one more time and continued walking toward the lounge. She just kept looking at him, at his back. It could sound corny but she thought, "That's the man I am gonna marry."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

MacLaren's was always a good place to exchange stories and the gang was always ready to hear some Time Travel related tale. They were seated at the booth, looking at Lily who had just told her most recent experience in the past. Only Barney was absent.

"Well, Marshall, you would had freaked out if a very pretty 30-year-old woman had told you that she was your wife from the future. I am sure."

"That would have been awesome! What teenager doesn't want a wife who can travel through time?"

Ted thought it over and nodded his head. Lily shrugged, "I have to be careful in the past, honey. We don't want the present to become an apocalyptic hungry monkeys war zone."

Robin laughed, almost spitting out her beer. " I think you give too much importance to your first encounter, guys."

"Hey, I have the very valid theory that I caused Justin Bieber's current fame" Lily told them.

"Well, in that case, half of the world hates you and the other half loves you," Ted said.

"Half of the world loves her? There are not that many Justin Bieber fans," Robin said, but then she thought it through, "Damn, this really is a sad world."

"So, Robin, do you know where Barney is?" Lily asked, "I hoped that I could see you all. I have been away for four days."

Marshall muttered "four _long_ days" but his voice wasn't audible when Robin answered in her high-pitched nervous voice;

"Why do you ask _me_? I don't pay Barney any special attention, not more than to any of you!"

"I called him before," Ted said. "He said he had something very urgent in his hands that needed his attention. He didn't say what," Ted shrugged.

"That's Barney for 'I got a stripper on my bare hands,'" Marshall said, laughing.

"Yeah, gross," Lily agreed, laughing too.

In that moment, Barney appeared through the door, running, almost colliding with empty chairs and other customers. He seemed excited. He sat down in the empty chair and put what seemed like an old manuscript on the table.

"I have here the answer to your marital troubles." He said, looking at Lily and Marshall.

"We don't have marital troubles," Marshall said.

"Hello to you, Barney. I have missed you too," Lily said with sarcasm.

Barney didn't pay attention to any of them. He was busy with the introduction of the manuscript. He adjusted his tie and stood up.

"Have you ever felt confused by Time Travel paradoxes?" Barney said in a infomercial tone. "Have you ever felt abandoned by your time-traveling wife? Have you ever wanted to enjoy time-travel sex escapades but don't find the right loophole in your marriage contract? Here is your solution!" He lifted the manuscript- "The time-travel manuscript. What's forbidden and what's not. From the creator of The Playbook and The Bro-Code."

"Ok, I think I am gonna regret saying this but I really want to read that manuscript," Ted said.

"Give me that!" Lily exclaimed in her best 'mother' voice. She took it from Barney's hands and started reading:

_The present manuscript regulates the time travels of all the time travelers of the world, particularly Lily Aldrin. It is valid in all the countries in the whole world, yeah, even in Canada. With the power the Time Traveler Issues Council had granted me, I declare the next rules of obligatory fulfillment:_

_Exhibit a) The time traveler has to keep herself naked for the first half hour if the climate doesn't endanger her health. If the climate isn't recommendable for nakedness, fifteen minutes will be enough._

"Very thoughtful of your part," Lily stopped reading to comment. Barney smiled at her, unaware of her sarcasm.

_Exhibit b) The time traveler can have sexual encounters with attractive people who are no longer with us in the present. To miss such an opportunity should be a crime. She can't maintain sexual relationships with her husband in other periods of time if he is already married. It would be considered disrespectful to the other Lilys._

_Exhibit c) If the time traveler steps on a fly and endangers in this way the present peace, as a punishment, she will have to photograph her boobs and send the picture attached to an email to her four best friends. To prevent confusion, these four friends are Barney Stinson, Robin Scherbatsky, Ted Mosby and Marshall Eriksen._

_Exhibit d) The time traveler must experiment sexually with herself from past or future, to make sure that "masturbating" receives a new and even more awesome meaning._

Robin looked surprised at Barney ."How much time did you spend writing this?"

"I have a copy in Spanish, Chinese and French."

"Well, they all seem pretty standards rules,"Lily said smiling, "I can go by them."

"What year it is?" Lily asked herself, confused.

She hid behind a curtain to cover her naked body. From there, she looked around. It was a big house, the suburbs, maybe. It looked familiar but she couldn't place where she had seen it before.

"Aunt Lily!" a child's voice exclaimed. A little girl ran in her direction, smiling fondly. She stopped in front of Lily. "Oh, you're naked! Does it mean you came from the future? Do ewoks already exist there, Aunt Lily?" the little girl was excited.

"From the past, I think," Lily answered, smiling. The girl didn't seem confused because of her nakedness. Lily looked at her closely, trying to identify her. She had Ted's eyes, so it could be his daughter. Lily had met the girl when she was a teenager, but she was so different back then.

"Did you bring me a present from the past?"

Lily opened her mouth to answer, but closed it when Ted came into the room.

"Honey, you know Aunt Lily can't bring anything with her from the past or the future. Not even clothes," Ted said, smiling at his daughter. She nodded. Ted's wife came in after Ted.

"Oh, Lily… I will bring you some of my clothes," Ted's wife said, stopping in her tracks. Lily smiled at her with gratitude and Mrs. Mosby left the living room to collect the promised clothes. It was obvious that she knew about Lily's condition and that it wasn't the first time that she had found a time-traveling Lily in her living room.

"So where do you come from?" Ted asked her. He seemed so calm, so carefree that there wasn't any doubt that he had already got his dream: a wife, a daughter and a beautiful house. In general - a family.

"Early 2009," Lily answered. Ted tried to remember what happened in that year and Lily helped him by clarifying. "Barney just wrote the time travel manuscript and you had met Victoria in the supermarket."

"Oh, I hate what happens afterwards," Ted confessed, remembering Victoria and everything that came after that.

Ted's wife came back with a floral dress, a warm sweatshirt and jeans.

"I don't know what you prefer."

"The dress, please," Lily said, "It's easier to put on."

She looked at her husband, "This is a girl situation, I am sure Lily wants some privacy."

"I will make us some tea," Ted said and looked at his daughter, "Do you want to help me?"

"But dad, it is a girl situation and I am a girl so it is super important that I stay!"

Lily laughed and Ted's wife handed her the dress, bending down over Lily. Lily took opportunity of the closeness to whisper to her, "2009. Where are you?"

Mrs. Mosby smiled, "I am closer than you think."

It made sense to Ted that "The One" could be that perfect girl that he cheated on. Karma is a bitch, that is a popular concept (and if it is not Karma, he knows God has very black humor). It made sense that Victoria was the person who he had been looking for all this time. Yeah, it is like when you try on a lot of shirts and you end up buying the first one. You always think: _Maybe I will find a shirt that I like better_, but then you never do. The first one is the best, or one of the first ones…

I mean Victoria, she has to be the one. Fate has brought her back.

_Ted sighed loudly from the front door of the diner where they were going to eat brunch. He could see Victoria already seated, looking distracted at her mobile phone. Ted smiled to himself; today is the day that everything changes. It had to be that day. It was a sunny day, the restaurant was beautiful but casual at the same time. It wasn't shouting "romantic date" from its walls but it was cute enough to be part of a romantic memory. The tablecloth was of the color of…_

"Ted," Marshall interrupted him, "We have been there before, can you get to the point?"

The excitement of his news made him unable to feel bothered by the interruption. Ted was seated at MacLarens with only the company of Lily and Marshall. They were intrigued by Ted's high spirit.

"She was wearing such a beautiful dress! She dressed up for me!" Ted said, excited, "_That_ has to mean something, right?"

"To know that I need more information," Lily said, "Go on."

"We started eating - eggs, steak with salad and a glass of mimosa. We talked about old memories, about architecture and baking. We laughed-" Ted stopped abruptly. "And she told me about her fiancé."

"Oh, God. I am so sorry, Ted," Lily said.

"That sucks, man," Marshall added.

"No, no… not everything is lost," Ted said, "I asked her why, if she was so happy, why did she accept to eat with me today?"

_Victoria shrugged and smiled, "You are a ghost from my past, Ted," she said, looking in his eyes, "A ghost I had to face before marrying."_

_Ted looked at her with sadness, still shocked by the news about her engagement._

"_So we are over. There is no possibility for Ted and Victoria anymore?"_

"_We have been over for a long time, Ted. We took different paths years ago." _

"_If you wouldn't have gone to Germany…"_

"_It wasn't Germany, it was Robin. I don't hate you, Ted. I understand. We weren't dating for that long when it happened, we weren't ready for a long-distance relationship… and Robin was a big part of your life. She still is and I am really sorry that it didn't work out between you two."_

"_We're only friends."_

"_I know. But Klaus and I aren't… I'm happy with him. I love him. God, I almost feel like I should thank you for cheating on me. You put me in his direction…"_

_Ted tried to smile, but it came out sad. Again, he was just Ted. Without hopes, without the one, without any clue about a possible future happiness._

"_So… Can I stay for dessert? Or should I go?" Victoria asked shyly._

_Ted smiled, this time with more sincerity, "Until the desserts, absolutely. You have to try the "Flan", it's French, I think."_

Ted stopped telling his story because the waitress came with the two hamburgers Lily and Marshall had ordered. Marshall bit into his hamburger. Before even putting it back on the plate, he started groaning in a way that could only mean one thing - Marshall approved.

"New recipe, new recipe!" Marshall exclaimed, "It's a new improved hamburger. The best hamburger of New York! We have a new winner! Oh, god, this is delicious."

Lily smiled and intrigued, tasted her own hamburger, "Oh, my… you are right. This is… I don't have words to describe it."

"What's in it?" Marshall asked the waitress.

She smiled, " I convinced Carl to add the secret ingredient for hamburgers from my Grandma."

"What it is? What's the secret ingredient?"

The waitress smiled with secrecy, "Well, it's called a secret ingredient for a reason." She took the empty glasses and went back to the bar. From there she could still hear Marshall's, "I need to know!"

"I love the new waitress; she has brought the best hamburger to our house," Marshall said. Ted cleared his throat to get back their attention. "Oh, right. Sorry Ted. What happened after dessert?"

Ted smiled, he was getting close to the best part. "Then, she left. I stayed a few more minutes. I needed to think so I asked for a coffee and… well, she came back. She smiled so fondly at seeing me, guys. You should have seen her…"

"Ted, to the point," Lily insisted.

_Victoria came almost running back to Ted's table._

"_Coffee?" Ted asked her, intrigued by her presence._

"_No, thank you. I didn't come back for the coffee…" Victoria said, looking for something inside her purse. Ted felt the knowing feeling of hope because she had come back… that was even better than when the girl turns her head to see him when she is leaving. This was like leagues ahead. "Here it is! I forgot to give you the muffin I made for you." Victoria said, handing him a small box that contained a muffin._

"_Oh, thanks," Ted said, disappointment invading his whole body._

"_I was already descending the stairs to the metro and I thought damn, I can go back… it wasn't a long way, maybe he's still there… And you are! I am happy you are."_

"_Yeah, me too. I love muffins…"_

_Victoria smiled. God, he wanted to get her back… badly – Who wouldn't?_

Lily and Marshall looked at Ted, still intrigued by the promised impressive end. Ted moved his head, waiting for his friends to say something.

"Well?" Ted asked.

"That's all?" Lily asked confused. "That's the story that made you think there is water on Mars."

"Yeah… though that analogy isn't totally right because Victoria and me have history, if you guys remember, so the correct analogy would have been, "that made you think there is _still_ water on Mars?" and most importantly, there is no way that there is water on Mars… so the probabilities between that planet having water and me getting back with Victoria are not equal. Suck it, Mars, I win, my probabilities are higher."

"That isn't exactly right."

Lily, Marshall and Ted looked confused to their side to look for the owner of the voice. It was the waitress, smiling sweetly.

"I mean, NASA is studying the possibility of water on Mars. They have found blobs that could be water droplets. I read that in the newspaper."

Ted looked at her with obvious dislike.

"Ok. Thank you for the information," Ted said, not pleased with the interruption.

"Here are your two beers," the waitress said to Lily and Marshall.

When the waitress was back behind the bar, far enough away for her to hear him, Ted got closer to the table to whisper to his friends;

"Nobody likes someone who corrects people, right?"

Lily raised her eyebrows. Ted was the most correcting person she knew.

"The muffin," Ted said, returning to the main conversation. "It is symbolism. It symbolizes her desire to get back with me. She is obviously not that happy with Klaus."

"Oh, honey," Lily said.

"I don't see the symbolism," Marshall said, confused.

"Well, she told me we had gone different ways a long time ago… and then when she came back to give me the muffin she said that she came back because the way wasn't that long and that she was happy to come back and to see me still there."

"Ted, don't play with married women," Lily advised him, looking at him with a mother-like stare.

"She is not married! Not yet."

"She is engaged, that counts as married. She said 'Yes', Ted."

"Not in the church, not yet," Ted said, "Can't you see it, guys? When she was saying the way wasn't that long and that she was happy to come back and to see me there. She means she will be happy to walk along the way with me, not different paths, just her and me. The muffin, guys. The muffin means everything."

"She is going to marry another guy, Ted. Not just another guy, a German guy. Their accents make them quite scary," Marshall said before drinking from his beer.

Ted sighed, exasperated and made signals to the waitress. She came back to the table.

"Do you need something else?"

"Yes, advice, please. My friends are not very sharp today," Ted said. The waitress blinked confused but stayed there anyway. "If someone told you that you can't get back together because you took different paths some years ago, but then, after leaving you at the restaurant, she comes back to give you a muffin… like she walks all the way back to give you a muffin. What does it mean?"

The waitress frowned, "That she wants you to have a muffin?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Lily said but then she saw Ted's face. "Oh, honey. I am sorry, but it's better that you don't get your hopes up."

"Can I go?" The waitress asked, still confused.

_What are you doing here, Robin?_ She asked herself, looking at the Goliath National Bank building. _What are you doing here at the exact time that Barney comes out of work? Really pathetic._ She sighed. Barney and her had sex like months ago and nothing had happened since. Then… well, Barney freaked out, she had told Ted, Lily started asking her intimate questions about it, Ted de-friended Barney and Barney was hit by a bus. That's what happened and that's the reason it shouldn't happen again, it always brought bad consequences. It was obviously a one-time thing, anyway. She was happy, maybe not happy, but content with that… she had left that in the past. It was a mistake, a funny mistake, an exciting mistake, a blowing-mind mistake… but a mistake nevertheless. Damn 'Lily from the future' for telling her that Barney and her would be something more than friends in the future. Before meeting Lily, Robin didn't believe in fate or what the future was reserving for her. Now she couldn't stop thinking about Barney's jokes, about his kisses, about him in general and if he could be "The One". They made sense together, they always had, but Barney's lifestyle made it easy for her to ignore that certainty. He wasn't available, he never would be… He was married to the bimbos of New York. God, that description would have made him freak out…

"He just wants to be your friend," Robin said to herself. 'Lily from the future' was obviously confused, maybe it was a joke… Barney is never going to give up his womanizing plays. Not for you… not that you want it, but that little part of you that is curious about that possibility, it's completely delusional.

Robin grunted. Now she was speaking to herself. She was crazy, that's it, she was losing it. It wasn't entirely Lily from the future's fault; it was the fault of Present Lily too, for making it seem so easy to have a stable relationship. It was Ted's fault too for talking about "The One" constantly and about fate and future. It was Marshall's fault… ok, it wasn't his fault. No, no, of course it was Marshall's fault too because he believed in Miracles and Barney having a formal relationship (in the future), that was a miracle. Oh, It was Barney's fault for being so… ugh, _adorable_.

Yeah, Robin Scherbatsky thought Barney Stinson was adorable. She was a teenager, she was acting just like one.

"Scherbatsky?" Barney asked, surprised to see her there. "What are you doing here?"

Robin jumped and smiled nervously at Barney. "I was here for… well, things about work, you know. So I remembered that you come out of work at this time and I thought about waiting for you so we can share a cab. If that's ok… because you're going to MacLarens now, right?"

"Yes to everything," Barney said, smiling.

She was beautiful. She was the definition of beautiful. Barney couldn't stop looking at her in awe. She had to be a witch or something like that… maybe that is what happen when you have sex with friends. A horrible curse falls over you for breaking the bro-code! It had to be a curse because he couldn't sleep or eat, he couldn't stop thinking about her… even dreaming about her! Not only erotic dreams (that would had been normal), but the dreams that Ted has every day, he was sure, dreams about smiles and holding hands and butterflies in the stomach. He is sick and now he is hallucinating.

"Does it smell like strawberries?" Barney asked, uncomfortable by Robin's closeness. The driver nodded and pointed to the pink air freshener. Perfect, he was in the cab decorated by Cupid himself. Where was Ranjit when you need him?

He wasn't hallucinating about the smell of strawberries but he was surely hallucinating about Robin because her behavior was more touchy and smiley than normal. Their legs were touching and she was smiling at him so frequently that Barney wondered if her neck was going to hurt because of it.

"Do you remember 'Sandcastles in the Sand'?" Robin asked.

Barney looked at her in surprise. Robin never talked about her Sparkle years and she didn't talk about _that night _ cab ride ever, at this point, he wouldn't find weird to see the seven dwarfs walking around New York City through the window, with their axes rested on their shoulders.

"How to forget it, Scherbatsky? That was you in your finest hour."

Neither of them knew if they were talking about the song or about their shared night.

"I had it recorded on video." Barney said, forming a huge smile.

Robin blinked, suddenly scared. "The song! Right?"

"What? Yeah, yeah! Of course," Barney hurried to say. He laid down his head. "I wish I had the other thing on video, though. We should teach the world how to have sex, Scherbatsky. High five for being sex gods!" Barney said, raising his hand.

Robin high-fived him with a smile. That proclamation would have been gross on another's lips but Barney was Barney, adorable without reason. At least, to her.

His next high-five was three days after. It seemed like a normal day but Barney would always cross out this day in the calendar like a very special event. Something worth celebrating every year, like a birthday or an anniversary. The morning started like any other. It was a Saturday, so he woke up late and made himself a coffee. He was reading the newspaper on his couch when suddenly he heard someone coughing. Barney looked for the source of the cough. That day had finally come.

"Yes, yes, yes! I knew this would happen eventually!"

Lily from the past looked at him with confusion. She wasn't embarrassed for her nakedness, it was something that a 20-year-old Lily was quite used to. And, truthfully speaking, she was in her best years to be totally naked in front of who she thought was a stranger.

"Sorry, do I know you?"

"One of your best friends in the whole universe," Barney said, smiling, "Right here, that's me."

Lily looked at Barney mischievously .He was suited up and his house was some kind of cold executive apartment. Not what she imagined her friends living in.

"Do you have something I can wear?" She said, embracing herself as always.

He guided her to the bedroom and opened his closet. He had a lot of womens clothes, mostly dresses, with different labels_: 'Lily Aldrin. 18 years', 'Lily Aldrin, 24 years', 'Lily Aldrin, 30 years', 'Lily Aldrin, 50 years'…_

"Are all these clothes for me?" Lily asked, surprised. "How do you know my size? I mean, how do you know all my sizes in chronological order?"

"A magician never reveals his tricks."

Lily looked at him frowning, "You are weird but…" She pointed to all her clothes, "This is great. I get why we're friends in the future, I mean, in your present."

Barney smiled like a child that had just been praised.

"Can I take a shower?" Lily asked.

Present Lily knew she was never going to forget this evening because Barney would never let her forget. She thought that the joking was going to start the first moment Barney talked to her, but when he called her to let her know that Lily from the past was in his house, his voice didn't sound mocking at all.

She knocked at the door and tried to remember about that day. Barney opened the door.

"Where is she?" Thirty-year old Lily asked.

"She is taking a shower."

Then everything came to mind. Lily remembered the stranger who said he was her friend, who had a bunch of clothes for only her use and had let her take a long shower. Her travels were usually cold, uncomfortable and full of hungry moments.

"Thank you, Barney," Lily said, hugging him suddenly. "At that age I had really awful travels. One time I almost thought I was going to die frozen."

It was weird to be hugged. He knew they were his friends, but most times Barney felt like the odd man out. It seemed like Marshall, Lily and even Robin belonged to Ted and that he allowed Barney to hang out with them. Like he was just a charity case.

"You are a good friend, Barney," Lily said, still hugging him. "I don't think we say it enough."

Barney loved to feel like a good friend. They were still hugging when Barney had the need to give her something back, a "you are a good friend too", a "no worries" or even a confession.

"I'm in love with Robin." He said, suddenly. It turned out that Lily wasn't the most surprised one of them at his confession.

"I know, I know," Lily said, breaking the hug and smiling at him. "Tell her."

Yeah, Barney sometimes forgot that Lily knew almost everything, about the past, about the present or the future. She was omnipresent.

The bonding time didn't take a lot longer. When Lily from the past came into the living room, showered and dressed, she found Barney and Present Lily sat on the couch with three mugs of coffee on the table and some cookies. Lily from the past smiled like a little girl. The last few weeks had been really horrible. She appeared once in the middle of the lake in Central Park, naked in the dead of the night. She appeared too in the house of a neighbor of her parents, who didn't recognize her and tried to hit her with a broom. It was the first time in some months that her time travel had brought her to a friendly and warm place. She disappeared two hours later and Present Lily, knowing it was going to happen, caught her empty mug before it crashed against the floor.

The mocking started the first time Lily and Barney stepped into MacLarens.

"I have big news," Barney informed their friends, taking a seat beside Ted. Lily rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"Finally, I saw Lily's boobs!" He said raising his arm. His excitement was almost touchable. "High-five?" He asked Ted.

"Sorry, bro," Ted said. Barney looked at Robin.

"Not good. Not even close to it," Robin said. Barney looked at Marshall.

"Man, I am not going to high-five you for seeing my wife's boobs."

Barney looked at them with horror. In that precise moment, the new waitress came to ask Lily and Barney if they wanted something to drink.

"High-five?" Barney asked, with his arm still raised. The waitress looked confused at him but did as asked. He sighed, descended his arm and ordered a beer. Lily ordered another one.

"I like the new waitress," Barney said when she was gone, "She's hot."

"What? No!" Ted exclaimed, "She corrects people." He said it like it was some big crime.

With Ted as a friend, it was difficult to keep intact the rightful course of their was always looking for signs that indicated Lily's opinion about his current girlfriend. If Lily made a face or had a bad opinion about the girl, he would immediately assume that she wasn't the one Lily had met in the future and, for that reason, it was useless to date her. His relationships were usually very short.

Lily remembered Stella. When Ted found the intervention banner and the letters where the gang advised Ted that marrying a woman with a daughter who lives far away from them was something that couldn't be done on impulse, Ted called off the engagement. Lily was afraid of the power that her time traveling condition had over Ted. Her friend's fate was a responsibility too big for her.

A week before Victoria's wedding, something similar happened again. Marshall and Lily were at their apartment when Ted came to ask Lily for advice.

"Tell me. I need to know. Is Victoria the girl you had seen me with in the future?" Ted asked. "Am I supposed to do something about the wedding?"

Lily rolled her eyes, but then looked at Ted with determination. She was tired of the way Ted had decided to live life, tired of how he never took any big chance without asking her first about his future. That wasn't life.

"Ted, you have to stop asking me about the one." Lily told him with sweetness. "Stop looking for a certainty, feel it, ok? Do you like her? Do you love her? Those feelings should be enough for you to make your decision. You don't need me for that."

In that instant, Ted had an epiphany… a wrong epiphany.

"You are right. I know what I feel, I know what should happen. I know what fate I want for me..." He hugged Lily and Marshall. He was determined to be happy, he wasn't afraid of being rejected. He was going after what he really wanted. It had been so long since the last time he had felt the rush of making something happen. "Thank you! I have to go now."

"What? Where are you going?" Marshall asked, frowning.

Ted opened the door and looked at his friends with a smile. "I have to plan a declaration good enough to stop a wedding!" He shouted before closing the door after him.

Lily and Marshall looked at each other, worried about Ted's decision.

"I wasn't implying that he should stop the wedding, really," Lily said, feeling guilty. "I meant the decision of who was going to be his wife. Damn!"

"Is he going to do it? Is he going to stop a wedding?" Marshall asked, worried and excited at the same time. "I thought this only happened in soap operas!"

The next morning Lily woke up in some part of New York where she had never been before. Luckily for her, there was a boutique in the street and it wasn't difficult to pick the lock and steal some clothes to wear. It was a humid summer, she wasn't sure of what year, but she supposed it was the 90s. When she traveled through time, she usually appeared in some important event for her or for her friends. She was curious to discover who was she going to encounter in that travel. She was sure it wasn't her own past because nothing seemed familiar to her.

"Have you stolen from that shop?" A child asked her.

Lily jumped, surprised by the sudden presence. He was short, blond, pale and skinny… his face, innocent even under his borrowed frown, showed a little Barney Stinson.

"Do you know that you can go to jail for that?" Barney asked. He couldn't have been more than seven years.

Lily was going to answer when she realized that Barney's eyes were red. He had been crying.

"Why were you crying?" Lily asked, concerned.

"I told Molly Wilson that I like like her." He said, shrugging. Forgetting at the instant his own accusations.

Lily felt a pang of hurt seeing how easy it was for this much younger, innocent Barney to confess his love for someone, even to a stranger. She knew that Shannon hurt him enough to turn him into a different person, sheltered between big walls of suits and conquests.

"Oh, what did she say to that?" Lily asked.

"She said I was weird."

"Only weird people are awesome," Lily said, trying to cheer him up. Barney looked at her confused, as if she had just spoken in another language. "Can I tell you something?"

Barney changed his confused expression to curiosity. He got closer to Lily, nodding.

"_Robin_." She just said, "Remember that name."

He didn't but it wasn't really necessary.

The gang decided to help Ted in his crazy crusade. If the result was total humiliation or the triumphant ending of a Hollywood movie, they wanted to be there. That decision was taken at the last moment, when a suited-up Ted entered into a cab that drove away from MacLarens. Lily, Marshall, Barney and Robin decided at that moment, while watching Ted's cab leave, that they wanted to be part of that crucial moment in their friend's life. They took the next cab.

Robin, Barney and Lily sat in the back seat. Marshall looked at the driver with a repressed emotion.

"Follow that cab!" He exclaimed excited, pointing to Ted's cab.

The driver frowned. "Are you gonna hurt someone?"

"What? Oh, no, no. This is not that kind of movie situation." Marshall answered. "We are more in a soap plot, right now. For the name of love, you know."

"Ok, fair enough," the driver said. "Don't forget to put your belts on!"

The four of them smiled, excited about a pursuit but the race wasn't as it was promised on tv. They got stuck at a traffic jam, but fortunately so was Ted's car. The long minutes were passed in an uncomfortable silence. The adrenaline had suddenly worn off.

Barney noticed that his hand was resting on the seat, beside Robin's hand. He put his little finger over Robin's, a bit hesitant. Robin didn't take his hand off but put two fingers on Barney's hand, caressing his knuckles slightly. He opened his hand, and turned it over. She squeezed his hand strongly. They tried not to look at each other, afraid that the intimate moment would end abruptly if they did. They kept holding hands until the cab arrived to its destination, the church.

Two days later, while in MacLarens, Barney held her hand under the table and Robin laid her head on his shoulder. It happened without previous agreement and with slow and insecure movements, as they feared that their moment in the cab was an illusion or meaningless. For the relief of them both, they didn't back out from the unexpected gesture. Lily smiled at the scene, Ted looked confused and out of place and Marshall opened his mouth in a unhidden surprise.

"When did this happen?" Marshall asked.

"Two days ago, during the cab ride," Barney answered.

Lily wanted to ask how, because she was there and she didn't notice anything but sometimes, it was a pleasure for her to _not_ know the whole story and she decided that it was better to keep her own intrigue. She almost missed that feeling.


End file.
